When Destiny Unfolds
by Walker of Nothing
Summary: Follow Itami as the lines that separate her world and the Kingdom Hearts Universe begins to blur. As she realizes her true Destiny spurring her to begin a journey that will forever change her life.


When Destiny Unfolds by Walker Of Nothing and KHSuperGeek 1288

**A/N: Due to unforeseen circumstances and the release of KH 3 we decided it would be best to start over from scratch. Three times the charm you know? Anyway, hope you enjoy and a big thank you from myself and KH!**

**April 6th, 2005 ? (Age: 5)**

"Happy Birthday dear Itami, happy birthday to you!"

Confetti scattered all over the birthday girl, Itami, a young and hyper child who just turned five years old. Excitement filled her eyes when she finally blew out the candles from her Disney princess cake. Matter of fact, her entire party theme was Disney. The decorations, the party table, even the pinata was of Maleficent, one of Itami's favorite villains. Itami's entire family came over just to celebrate this once a year moment with her, she couldn't be anymore happier than she was now.

"What did you wish for sweetie?" One of Itami's cousins asked. "I bet it was something really cool!"

"Sorry I can't tell," Itami smiled. "Then my wish won't come true."

"Alright everyone, it's time for the birthday girl to open her presents!" Itami's mother announced. "Go ahead sweetie, pick whichever one you want to open first."

Itami grins happily and runs over to the massive table of birthday presents. There was so many to choose from in so many different shapes and sizes, what could she start with? She then decided to pick out the smallest present from the pile, it seemed flat similar to a dvd case. Itami slowly rips off the colorful wrapping paper to reveal what looks to be a pair of Playstation 2 games called Kingdom Hearts and Kingdom Hearts 2. It didn't seem that interesting to her until she noticed that it was Disney characters such as Donald, Goofy, and Mickey Mouse and even more on the back cover of it. Itami's excitement went right back up finding this discovery and nearly screamed her little heart out.

"OhmygoshohmygoshohmygoshIloveitsomuchthankyousomuch!' she said in a rush.

"Whoa Itami slow down or you might swallow your tongue." Itami's father warned. "There's still plenty of other gifts to go through."

And go through she did, Itami opened every birthday gift, thanking her relatives who gave them to her and enjoyed every single one of them with a burning passion. Of course, the one gift she was most excited about was the two Kingdom Hearts games since they had Disney on them.

Soon after, Itami and her younger relatives played party games the rest of the day, musical chairs, pin the tail on the donkey, had a break for cake. Then, at last, it was time for the Maleficent pinata. Itami's father gave his daughter a plastic sword to hit it with so it would feel like what the prince did in the movie. It took Itami a few whacks, slashes and then a final stab in the middle until all the sweet candy poured out. She refrained from jumping in first, instead of letting her relatives get a chance first. Seeing her family happy and laughing amongst themselves was enough to make her happy.

Time passed in an instant as it was already late afternoon a couple of people had already begun leaving, thanking them for the glorious party. Others stayed behind to help Itami's parents clean up the mess the kids left behind. A relative had noticed on the table with torn wrapping paper, that there was one perfectly wrapped present left as if it wasn't even noticed.

"Hey, Itami!" The relative called. "I think you forgot a present!" They walk over to the child in handing her the gift while continuing to clean up.

This seemed odd to Itami, as she was certain she opened every single one. It was possible that she missed one under the pile of presents and wrapping paper. She eagerly ripped off the paper with curiosity and pulled what was inside out. Itami's eyes sparkled with what was in her hands, it was an adorable stuffed anthropomorphic toy cat. Its fur was a lovely grey with black stripes on top of its head and on the back side of its body. Navy blue sewn relaxed eyes, a light gold cape and a yellow yarn coin purse with a purple star on it and around its neck with a chain.

Itami hugs the toy cat tightly like her life depends on it admiring how adorable it was. She opens the coin purse to see if there was anything inside and as it turns out there was a small note in the bottom of the purse.

_Itami, if you are reading this then that means you got the gift that I sent you. Now, this may be hard to believe, but this little guy was made especially for with a little bit of magic. Crazy huh? Hope you have a wonderful birthday and so forth._

_-M_

_P.S. They go by Chirithy in case you were wondering what to name it._

"Ah how cute," said Itami's mother. "Isn't that thoughtful, who is it from sweetie?"

Um...from a friend mommy!" Itami answered, hiding the note back in the coin purse. "They couldn't make it, so their parents dropped it off!"

"That's nice of them," Itami's father answered. "Now come on and help me with the pinata scraps, you don't want mean old Maleficent to come after you do ya?"

"Not on my watch!" Itami exclaimed, running to her dad. "I'll make sure she never comes back!"

**April 13th, 2005. Itami Age:5**

Today, was just another normal day of school for the Kindergarten class. All the kids were outside on the playground, the swings or just running around on the basketball court. However, Itami was by herself, under one of the trees playing with her cat-like plushy Chirithy.

"Watch out Donald! The Heartless are coming!" She cried out at her duck plush toy that she had also brought with her. The plush was dressed up in a sailor blue uniform that bore a striking resemblance to the character in question. "Quick use a fire spell to distract them!" Itami picks up the duck toy while attempting to imitate his voice. Then shakes one of the plushies arms that had a stick taped to its wing.

"Itami, look out! Behind you!" She yelled out trying to sound like Goofy. "I'll use my shield," picking up the dog plush, who also had a striking resemblance to Donald's companion. The plush has a paper plate taped to its back with a pattern that was similar to that of a shield to the game. Itami then proceeds to chuck the Goofy Plush a few inches away from her while yelling, "Heartless be gone!"

While Itami was distracted from her game of pretend, a few of the older kids walked up behind her while laughing and snickering.

"Hey look at that weirdo over there," one of the kids had obnoxiously pointed out. "She's all by herself with her dumb toys!"

"Why don't you play with more girly toys like a barbie or something?" Another kid snarked. "Or maybe one of those stupid baby dolls?"

Itami let out a sigh and just ignored their lackluster insults, she knew better than to let their words hurt her. She decided instead, to move somewhere else where the kids wouldn't bother her and start to pick up her toys. However, when Itami was about to grab Chirithy, one of the kids snatched it away from Itami. Then the kid proceeded to run away with it while laughing and teasing her to come and get it.

"H-Hey! Give that back jerk!" Itami cried out, going after the kid who took her plush.

Both she and the older kid ran around the playground, up and down various ways and paths. Across the bridge, down the slides, even up the small rock climb wall. Then, the older kid runs up to the jungle gym which is only a foot away from a large metal gate. On the other side of this gate is a large dark forested area. The kid climbs up all the way to the very top of the jungle gym.

"Whatcha gonna do now weirdo? I still got your stupid cat toy"! The kid exclaimed. " Come up here and be the hero you keep spouting on about!"

"Please give me Chirithy back," Itami cried, "I don't want to fight you!" She tries to climb up the jungle gym to catch up to the older kid, but she couldn't quite grasp the bars well.

"You don't want to fight? Then go get it yourself if you're so desperate!" The older kid throws Chirithy high up over the gate and into the forest out of sight.

"NO! CHIRITHY!" Itami cries out. Tears starting to well up in her eyes from the sheer terror of her toy being so far out of reach. "Why would you do that?"

"God, stop being such a baby," the older kid sighed. "Just ask your parents for a new one."

The school bell rings, alerting everyone that it was time to head back to their classes. Everyone started to head back inside in a hurry so they wouldn't be late. Everyone except for Itami of course. Instead, she waited until everyone was gone and then began her ascent up the jungle gym yet again. She slipped a few times, but she eventually made it to the top and what faces her was the dark, seemingly endless forest. Maybe this was a bad idea, after all, she started to think to herself. Maybe she should just ask a teacher for help, they might have a better chance of finding Chirithy No, Itami had to be brave, she can face any dangers, including darkness as long as the light inside of her is really strong. Itami takes a breath while taking a step back and gracefully leaps from the gym and over the gate while landing softly on the ground.

'I...I did it?" Itami contemplating what had just happened. "I...I DID IT! Awesome! Now to find Chirithy! She scurries right into the forest, saving her precious cat toy engraved into her head.

XxX

The forest was thick trees, almost making it hard to see anything, but Itami was brave enough to continue on forward until she found her Chirithy. Suddenly, she could hear branches snapping in the surrounding vicinity which caused Itami to freeze in place. Was something following her? A teacher? Another student perhaps? She was still worried about finding Chirithy, it's too soon to give up now. However, that wasn't the case, instead, a strange hooded man in a black coat revealed himself while struggling to stand up.

"W-What? Hey, kid, you shouldn't be out here by yourself." The hooded man warned her," you could get hurt or worse."

"Who are you…? Itami asked. "Are you okay? You don't look so good." Cautiously walking up to the hooded man, but stops when she notices a familiar object that he was using to keep himself hoisted. "Is...that a keyblade?" The supposed keyblade in the stranger's hand looked ominous, it had a dark black handle with a raised spiral carved around it. Its pommel and guard resembled black, demonic wings. The base of the blade has an etching of a goat, while the shaft is formed of two black, barbed blades, etched with a white icon resembling a bramble of thorns. The teeth of the blade were formed in the shape of a demonic wing and are set with a massive blue demonic eye.

"Y-Yeah it is, but how do you know what a keyblade-?" Before the hooded man could finish, he fell to his knees from the immense pain all over his body. "L-Look kid, you need to get out of here and go home, it's not safe here."

"No way!" Itami yelled out. "I came here to save Chirithy and I'm not leaving until I find them!" She proceeded to run away from the hooded stranger while heading deeper into the forest.

Itami could hear the man calling after her to stop and turn back, but she was too stubborn to listen to reason. As Itami got deeper and deeper into the forest his voice started to fade away. The trees continued to grow thicker and thicker as she continued to run while the sky seemed to be almost nonexistent under the thick canopy of the trees. With no real source of light, Itami couldn't see her surroundings very well. Then suddenly, without warning, she trips over a massive tree root and falls face first on the ground. She tried to get back up, but felt a sharp pain through her leg and ended up only being able to sit up.

"Tch...dang it." Itami sighed. "Come on the leg, don't hurt now." She looked around to see if anyone or anything was around. Her gaze stopped on a silhouette that appeared to be Chirithy sitting against a tree a few feet from where she was sitting. "CHARITY! Oh, thank goodness you're okay!" Itami grabbed a hold of the tree to help support her as she headed over to where her lost toy is. "I thought I'd lost never find you, I'm sorry I couldn't stop that jerk that threw you." She picks up Chirithy and hugs the plush toy tightly. "You're safe now, I promise I won't lose you again...come on let's head back."

Once Itami turned around, the entire forest was shrouded in endless darkness, the path she was currently following had completely vanished. Small yellow eyes started appearing in the darkness and slowly moved closer and closer to where Itami was standing. Was this the danger the hooded man was talking about? But it's not possible, how are there Heartless here? Itami's heart started racing with fear as the small Shadow Heartless inch closer to her. They quickly surrounded her making it to where there was no escape at all.

"N-No, go away! You're not real! "Itami exclaimed. "Get away!' Her words didn't seem to faze them as they grew closer and closer to her. She starts to crouch fear and attempts to turn away from the Heartless. Hoping that this was all just a bad dream. This can't end like this she can't die here, but would Itami do? She doesn't have magic and definitely isn't strong enough to defend herself. Itami couldn't run away either with her leg still sprained she was stuck.

The Shadow Heartless grew closer to Itami ready to attack, but then, Itami heard a loud voice. "Thunder!" Out of nowhere, a bolt of lightning rained down from above. Then, the familiar hooded man from before leaped out of one of the trees above Itami to protect her. She noticed that his previous injuries seemed to have been completely healed and that he was back to full strength.

"I told you to head back," the hooded man scolded Itami, "I'll take care of them while you make a run for it." He used a cure spell to heal her and then reached out his hand to help her up.

Itami couldn't really comprehend what he was saying, still paralyzed in fear and holding on to the hooded figure's arm that he was holding his keyblade in. "I...I can't…" she whimpered. "I don't want to be alone…"

The hooded man sighs and pulls his hand away. "Just stay close alright?" He quickly raised keyblade and used a Stop spell to freeze the Heartless. "Come on!" He grabs hold of Itami's hand and made a run for it from the swarm of Heartless before the spell wore off.

They managed to escape that part of the forest in time little to no trouble, though Itami was still holding on tightly to the hooded man's hand.

"You're lucky I caught up to you in no time," the hooded man turned to face her. "Why didn't you listen to me as every kid should? You could have been killed and over a plush toy of all things." He tried to pull his hand back, but she had a strong vice grip around it.

I...I'm sorry." Itami cried softly. "I just wanted to save my friend...I couldn't just leave them there like that!" A flood of tears starts to run down her cheeks as she grabs his hand harder and squeezes it. "I thought I was brave enough to do anything! That jerk was right, I'm no hero...I'm just-"

"Okay, I get it just calm down," the hooded man said pointedly. "You did find your toy, so I'll give you that. However, you can't just run off like that without knowing how to defend yourself." He moves closer to her and kneels down to where he on her level and says to her, "if you want to be a hero, then you need to train, find your true calling and of course you are going to need one of these." Holding up his keyblade, as it glowed in the darkness around them. "But next time you're in danger, I won't be there to save you. Do you understand what I am saying to you?"

"Y-Yes, sir," Itami said, her voice seemed to be an lt calmer and at ease then what it was before. "Thank you for saving me back there...though my parents will probably never believe me or anything that I've seen today."

"And they never will…" The hooded man said softly before he raised his keyblade towards the trees. He called out a Sleep spell which afterward a cloud of dust fluttered over Itami and she felt herself drifting into a deep sleep. "Sorry kid, but the world isn't ready for me yet, but there is something special about you." The hooded man simply nodded his head with these final words. "Maybe we'll meet again in the future, only time will tell."

XxX

Faint calls could be heard as Itami started to wake up, she was back at the school playground but still on the other side of the gated fence. How did she even get back? Where did that hooded man even go? She proceeded to get up, her toy still in hand as she tried to get their attention. "Hey, I'm over here!" Itami yelled out to the group of people.

There were a few teachers and her parents that ran over to Itami frantically trying to find a way to get her over the fence. Afterward, they managed to find a small hole through the gate that Itami could squeeze through to get by. As unorthodox as it may have been, her parents were just glad to see her again.

"Itami! Oh my God sweetie are you okay?!" Itami's mother was rife with panic and concern. "Look at you, you're covered in scratches!

"I'm okay Mom, really," Itami reassured her mother that she was alright. I was trying to save Chirithy from the forest! There was Heartless and this guy with a keyblade that saved me."

"Itami we thought someone had taken you away!" Itami's Dad Exclaimed. "We're just relieved that you're safe." Both her father and mother hug Itami tightly, with the fear that if they let go they'll lose her forever.

Itami explained how her toy ended up on the other side of the gate because of one of the other students. Her parents were furious about it and expected a talk with the child and their parents about it as soon as possible. They decided to take Itami home for the rest of the day and have their own little talk.

XxX

"Now Itami, there's something you should know when it comes to bringing your stuffed toy," Itami's mother began to explain. "We know you care a lot about it and we're happy you are."

"But there are moments when you can't bring it with you,' Itami's father added. "Those older kids from school made fun of you for having it and took it away from you. Maybe it's best you leave it here at home where it can be kept safe."

"...okay…" Itami felt sad, but she knew deep down it was the best thing she could do." But I don't like it.

Itami's mother smiled sympathetically while holding her daughter close. How about this? Tomorrow we can go to the park and you can bring Chirithy. Will that is okay?" She asked.

"That's good idea honey," the father agreeing. "We can even have a little picnic too if you want."

Itami takes a minute to think about it and immediately afterward nods to the idea with a smile. "Let's do it!" She exclaimed.

Things seemed to be turning out just fine for Itami, but that scenario still dwelled in her mind. Was there really heartless back at that forest? Was the keyboard actually real? Is the game more than just a game? But, an actual alternate dimension and that hooded man somehow made it to mine. Maybe it really was just a dream, but Itami knew one thing was for sure. That was that she needed to learn how to fight and to protect what was most precious to her. Perhaps when she is older, she could look into and attend some self-defense classes. Until then, Itami would continue to have a stable childhood...for now.

XxX

**A short message from KH,**

**Hey! KHsupergeek here! From the other side ooooo~...ok that was bad. Anyway, yes Walker and I are doing a rewrite AGAIN. Please understand that we want to make this story more enjoyable for the audience...by providing more lengthy and detailed chapters which might also take longer to make. BUT fear not! This is just the prologue so we'll have a time skip to a more properly aged Itami! Thanks for reading and make sure to follow and favorite it! Or don't, we don't mind either ^-^ also comment about how great it is or if there's anything we need to fix! We accept ALL criticism. The**


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